Moving to electronic employee files creates a number of efficiencies for a Human Resources department. Here are some of the benefits you can expect from upgrading.

Storing and managing your employee files in a traditional, paper format can really suck a lot of productivity out of your Human Resources department. Files are easily lost or misfiled and retrieving documentation from even the most organized filing cabinet can be quite cumbersome. These days, many HR directors have decided to switch to an electronic system to store and manage employee files. With this switch comes a number of benefits. Here are some of the efficiencies HR staff can expect to gain from switching to electronic employee files.

Instant Retrieval
Storing your employee files in an electronic system means your staff can access the documents they need at any time. No more waiting for the office administrator to find that one random document you needed yesterday. Cloud employee file systems are also great solutions if your organization is spread throughout numerous offices. With a cloud system, employee files can be securely accessed, shared and collaborated on in real-time, from anywhere.

Controlled Access
Certain electronic systems will store your files by indexing. These indexed filing systems are very useful because every document you save in the system is categorized by type. This becomes so important because you can control access to specific "document types". In this way, you can actually consolidate all employee information from various folders (personnel, PHI, benefits, etc) into one comprehensive folder per employee. Simply control access to specific document types for specific groups of staff.

Automatic Auto Prep
Some electronic systems allow you to run reports to ensure all employee documentation is complete and up to date. For example, if each employee is required to have documents A, B and C in their folder at all times, the system can run a report to check on this automatically. In the same fashion, if certain employees are required to have a certification or training renewed annually, the system can also check on that. Once a week or once a month you can receive a report that will tell you exactly which employees are missing required documentation and which employees have a certification coming up for renewal within the next 60 days.

Paperless Onboarding
​One of the nicest things about taking your employee files digital is that implementing a paperless onboarding process becomes extremely easy. Now that you've stopped managing your employee files on paper, you can stop producing paper in the first place! Online forms and electronic signatures take the place of pen-and-paper forms so that new hires can fill out all onboarding documentation without printing a single sheet. Once finished, all completed onboarding documentation gets stored in the employee's folder...

Read more - Electronic Employee Files Provide New Efficiencies For HR.

Article from HR.com.